Keon Coleman is getting back up after having the bus planted on him.
The early tea leaves are seemingly pointing to the embattled Bills receiver staying with the team despite being thrown under the bus by owner Terry Pegula earlier in the offseason.
NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe reported that the team’s hierarchy — top football executive Brandon Beane, new coach Joe Brady and owner Terry Pegula — are still high on the underachieving receiver and the Bills are not offering him for pennies on the dollar.
“One guy they do not want to trade at this time is receiver Keon Coleman,” Wolfe said Tuesday morning “(Beane and Brady) both were adamant, they think Keon Coleman’s going to have the best season of his career and they don’t want to trade him.”
He added: “Never say never on a trade, but I’m told it would likely take a Day-2 pick (second and third rounds) for a team to land Coleman via trade. With an inconsistent first two seasons, there’s more value right now for the Bills than probably elsewhere.”
Coleman’s future in Buffalo has been a top storyline in Western New York after an awful second season that ended with the owner dumping on him.
The former second-round pick tallied just 38 catches for 404 yards and four touchdowns, wile also being made a healthy scratch several times.
When the team moved on from former coach Sean McDermott after the season, Pegula deflected blame from Beane — the team’s vice president of football operations — regarding the Coleman pick.
“The coaching staff pushed to draft Keon. I’m not saying Brandon wouldn’t have drafted him, but he wasn’t his next choice,” Pegula said of Coleman, selected with pick No. 33 in 2024. “That was Brandon being a team player and taking advice of his coaching staff, who felt strongly about the player.
“(Brandon)’s taken, for some reason, heat over it and not saying a word about it, but I’m here to tell you the true story.”
The messaging has been much more positive since that train — or bus — wreck of a press conference.
Brady said during his introductory press conference that he told Coleman “the best thing that happened to Keon Coleman was me being his head coach.”
Beane and Brady reportedly met with Coleman’s agent during the NFL Combine last week and told the receiver’s agent how they have plans for a big 2026 season.
Coleman, per NFL Network, is not worried about all the outside nose and “uber confident he can still be a consistent, impact player.”
“It’s going to take trust. Last year was rough,” Wolfe said. “A couple healthy scratches because Keon had issues with oversleeping and being late, Keon also didn’t love how he was used and maybe the opportunities he got in the scheme. They have to work together to make this thing work.”
While the Bills believe in Coleman, Wolfe added that the expectation is Buffalo will be in the mix for the “big-name trade targets.”
Buffalo’s lesser-profile collection of skill players did not deliver as needed in the AFC Divisional Round loss to the Broncos, and likely could use a dominant No. 1 target.
